Swimmers typically wear tight fitting garments which help decrease air/water resistance, which is especially important in competitive events. If maximum performance is to be achieved then it is also very important the swimmer maintains a correct body position when executing a swimming stroke in the water. This requires coordinated firing of specific muscle groups depending on the stroke. Such body position, including the coordinated firing of muscle groups, is generally only learned and maintained through hours of training in a pool.
Swimming garments have been proposed that support a swimmer's core to help them maintain good body position in the water. For example, EP1935266 (Speedo) describes a swimsuit having increased support for a swimmer's core, provided by a double layer of fabric in a torso region of the suit that surrounds the swimmers abdomen and lumbar region.